Mx5 NA conversion

Tell us about the project you do with the open inverter
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sylver
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Mx5 NA conversion

Post by sylver »

Hello everyone,

First post here, and first conversion !

Base car is a Mx5 NA which I have had for about 10y. I don't have much mechanic skills and although I'm working on this with a friend who has, there are a lot of first for the two of us here. I do have some theoretical knowledge about BEV drives though.

1.6 engine is out and I have already ordered and received a EM57 motor with its inverter and PDM + Zombieverter box, thanks to m.art.y on this forum (who I highly recommend btw). Plan is to mount it straight to the existing gearbox, with the inverter on top and probably the PDM on the side.

Ready to start
image.png
What came out
image.png
What needs to go in
image.png
Where it needs to go
image.png
First point is to figure out how to do the coupling. Based on what I read, looks like the coupling from BRAT INDUSTRIES could be the best option. My early plan was to keep the clutch as a safety device against any unintended acceleration but this seems more complicated.

I still have no idea for the battery, I'll figure out once the motor is in. Thanks in advance for the support.
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rstevens81
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Re: Mx5 NA conversion

Post by rstevens81 »

welcome to the pain that is mx5 conversion, you'll begin to hate the placement of the front anti roll bar :)
luckily for you not being in somewhere stupid like the uk .... your allowed to weld brackets on so you should be able to mount a sizeable box up front and use a motorcycle radiator, as for the back if you drill out the welds for the fuel tank cover there should be quite a bit of space there.
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sylver
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Re: Mx5 NA conversion

Post by sylver »

rstevens81 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:29 pm welcome to the pain that is mx5 conversion, you'll begin to hate the placement of the front anti roll bar :)
luckily for you not being in somewhere stupid like the uk .... your allowed to weld brackets on so you should be able to mount a sizeable box up front and use a motorcycle radiator, as for the back if you drill out the welds for the fuel tank cover there should be quite a bit of space there.
Thank you. Yes front ARB in the empty engine bay is quite obvious and in the middle of things... And yes, the fuel tank space is already planned for. I'm hoping to put as much of the battery as possible in the rear but will need to see. Would be nice to avoid a split pack. If i can find cell with a sufficient C-rating, 20~25kWh would be perfect. I'd like to bring a little more weight to the rear to help with traction, it could potentially have quite a bit more power than the ICE. Let's see how extensive the body work would need to be.

I think UK is pretty easy for conversion, no? The car is actually still registered there but now in Belgium where conversions are a lot harder to register.
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Bratitude
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Re: Mx5 NA conversion

Post by Bratitude »

this will be fun.

i have 2 write ups on making motor couplers and adapter plates.
coupler-> https://bratindustries.net/how-to-mate- ... r-coupler/
adapter plates -> https://bratindustries.net/how-to-mate- ... ter-plate/

these should give you a pretty good understanding of whats involved and whats needed on your end.

you might be able to find a cad drawing of your bellhousing bolt pattern, in that case your set!
https://bratindustries.net/ leaf motor couplers, adapter plates, custom drive train components
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Re: Mx5 NA conversion

Post by sylver »

Bratitude wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:20 am this will be fun.

i have 2 write ups on making motor couplers and adapter plates.
coupler-> https://bratindustries.net/how-to-mate- ... r-coupler/
adapter plates -> https://bratindustries.net/how-to-mate- ... ter-plate/

these should give you a pretty good understanding of whats involved and whats needed on your end.

you might be able to find a cad drawing of your bellhousing bolt pattern, in that case your set!
Thanks. Yes i came accross your links, great explanation. In the first one, it mention about "why a direct clutch-less connection, more on that later" but i could not find it :lol:

Do you still have stock of your coupler and Leaf adapter plate and would you ship to EU?
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Bratitude
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Re: Mx5 NA conversion

Post by Bratitude »

sylver wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 4:50 am
Do you still have stock of your coupler and Leaf adapter plate and would you ship to EU?
i just restocked with new couplers, these are the best fit yet. and have a few adapter plates left.
sylver wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 4:50 am Thanks. Yes i came accross your links, great explanation. In the first one, it mention about "why a direct clutch-less connection, more on that later" but i could not find it :lol:
clutch adds:
-weight
-cost
-complexity
-more failure points
https://bratindustries.net/ leaf motor couplers, adapter plates, custom drive train components
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Re: Mx5 NA conversion

Post by MattsAwesomeStuff »

Minor thing, not worth mentioning elsewhere:

"step 4: Machine the blank end of the leaf coupler to be 1/2 thousands of a inch smaller than the outside diameter(OD) of the machined clutch center"

Did you mean a half-thou (0.0005"), or did you mean 1 or 2 thou (0.001-0.002")?

Better to be clear.
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rstevens81
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Re: Mx5 NA conversion

Post by rstevens81 »

sylver wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 2:49 am I think UK is pretty easy for conversion, no? The car is actually still registered there but now in Belgium where conversions are a lot harder to register.
The current rules for uk are don't drill any holes(anywhere), don't weld anywhere, only pickup on existing boltholes & reuse existing engine mounts (rubber things), otherwise things get complicated and expensive quickly. amini and a metro have had thair registrations revoked for having 3 holes to safely mount the batteries.... just when you though the uk couldn't get any more strange (Brexit), our government body would prefer inadiquitly secured battey on existing holes that weren't designed for high (crash) load rather in the right place in something strong!! (currently trying to learn German to escape this strange country).

As its still uk registered you'll have to work out how your going to do it either through uk or belgian and which is easier.

I have been trying to keep to the stock 50-50, which pretty much dictates a split pack.

Dont worry about the clutch, i was going to clutch mine then drove bigpies beatle and you don't need one at all!

link to my project (more restoration than ev) for ref info, dont hesitate to dm me if you have any questions.
viewtopic.php?p=46635&hilit=mx5#p46635
Rule 1 of EV Club is don't buy a rust bucket....
Which rule does everyone forget 🤪
sylver
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Re: Mx5 NA conversion

Post by sylver »

rstevens81 wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:06 pm The current rules for uk are don't drill any holes(anywhere), don't weld anywhere, only pickup on existing boltholes & reuse existing engine mounts (rubber things), otherwise things get complicated and expensive quickly. amini and a metro have had thair registrations revoked for having 3 holes to safely mount the batteries.... just when you though the uk couldn't get any more strange (Brexit), our government body would prefer inadiquitly secured battey on existing holes that weren't designed for high (crash) load rather in the right place in something strong!! (currently trying to learn German to escape this strange country).

As its still uk registered you'll have to work out how your going to do it either through uk or belgian and which is easier.

I have been trying to keep to the stock 50-50, which pretty much dictates a split pack.

Dont worry about the clutch, i was going to clutch mine then drove bigpies beatle and you don't need one at all!

link to my project (more restoration than ev) for ref info, dont hesitate to dm me if you have any questions.
viewtopic.php?p=46635&hilit=mx5#p46635
Thank you, i wasn't aware of all these issues with UK ! In Belgium it's currently just not possible to register a conversion but it looks like thing are changing.
Good luck with your German, car is in Belgium but I actually live in Frankfurt since 2020 :)
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